The innermost of these three worlds is an epistellar jovian, similar to 51 Pegasi b, tau Bootes b, and 55 Cancri b. Recent research by astronomer Mark Marley into the nature of such "Hot Jupiters" suggests that such worlds would look significantly different from more "normal" gas giants like Jupiter. First of all, these worlds would be extremely hot due to the proximity to their stars, so hot that they may glow red. Further more, their heat would prevent water clouds from forming. Without planet wide cloud cover, these planets would appear blue due to Rayleigh scattering. The only other coloration would come from dust in the atmosphere.

So we can begin to get a picture of what upsilon Andromedae b is like. As it is so close to its parent star, there is a good chance that the planet is tidally locked, so that the same side of the planet always faces its star, just as the same side of the moon always faces Earth. If this is the case, then the spot on the planet which is always closest to the star (the starward pole) would be the hottest spot on the planet. Gases here would be superheated until they become incandescent and explode outward across the planet. As the gas moves towards the dark side of the planet they begin to cool. At the antistarward pole, the gases sink into the lower atmosphere to circulate to the starward side again. The seething atmosphere of this world is constantly turning itself inside out.

On the dark side of the planet, it becomes cool enough in the upper atmosphere for clouds of water ice to begin to form. Such clouds would form bands perpendicular to the motion of the atmosphere. As they move to the antistarward pole, they begin to pile up onto each other, forming an "ice cap" of clouds. This ice cap floats above the main body of the atmosphere, staying aloft even though the gas underneath is sinking back into the planet, just as soap bubbles bunch up even though the water below is going down a drain.

Such a tidally locked planet would probably have no moons, as they would have long ago lost their orbital momentum and crashed into their parent.

View a VRML model of the system. Please be patient while the file downloads.

For a VRML tour of our galaxy's exoplanets, check out Extrasolar VR.

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	The Sunward Side of uAnd b The innermost of the three known worlds of upsilon Andromedae hugs it star in an orbit so tight that the planet glows red from the incident heat and clouds of ice particles cannot form. Tidally locked long ago, one side of the planet always faces its sun. The temperature at the spot closest to the sun is so high that gases are ignited and rush to the cool side of the planet. No calm cloud bands here, this is a seething atmosphere constantly turning itself inside out.
	The Antisunward Side of uAnd b On the antisunward side of upsilon Andromedae b, we can see the planet's red glow. At the antisunward pole, the point farthest from the sun, the atmosphere resides in perpetual dark, and is thus cool enough to permit an "ice cap" of high clouds of water ice to form.
	The Eye of the Beholder Here we view u And b face on. Floating above a wayward asteroid, we have our backs to the sun, and the planet stares back at us with an otherworldly glare. The intense solar wind from the nearby sun is blowing material from the asteroid, forming a dusty tail. In the background, we see two bright stars, the second and third planets of upsilon Andromedae.

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View the Night Sky from upsilon Andromedae b...
	Cylindrical All Sky View (750 x 1500 pixels)
	Northern Hemisphere (750 x 750 pixels)
	Southern Hemisphere (750 x 750 pixels)